Along with Schultz joining the board, Groupon announced that Maveron LLC, the venture capital firm co-founded by Schultz, has invested in the company.

Deal terms were not immediately available. Dan Levitan, co-founder and partner of Maveron, declined to comment. Schultz wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Groupon CEO Andrew Mason told VentureWire that Maveron purchased shares from existing investors and employees. He declined to provide further details on how many shares were purchased or who the sellers were.

He said Schultz topped the company’s wish list for potential board members. “Toward the end of last year we said, ‘Let’s think really big about this company. If we could have anyone on this board in the world, who would we have?’ And Howard was our top choice.”

Mason said he met with Schultz and that he was enthusiastic about joining.

The board addition comes at a critical time for the three-year-old company, which is working to expand operations globally.

Earlier this month, Groupon raised a $950 million funding round that consisted of $377 million in new equity and $573 million that went to buy shares from existing shareholders. One of those shareholders, New Enterprise Associates, distributed nearly $70 million to its limited partners from redemptions of shares in December and January, VentureWire reported last week.